While there’s still plenty of time for things to change, we now have a much better picture of who did well in the 2021 draft and who did poorly. For more context and player info, you can see the complete draft classes for each team below with our draft database.

Winners

Padres

At this point, the 2021 draft looks like the Padres and then a huge gap before everyone else. Not only did they hit on both of their first two picks—Jackson Merrill in the first round and James Wood in the second—but those players would be the favorites to go 1-2 overall when redrafting this class. The Padres boast the most big leaguers from their 2021 draft class (eight), and they also lead all teams in accumulated WAR plus projected 2026 WAR (22.1). This class is second to the Reds when just looking at current total bWAR (14.6 vs. 14.9), but the Merrill/Wood combo alone should allow them to quickly surpass that in the near future. 

Guardians

Cleveland went pitcher-heavy in the 2021 draft. That’s paid off, as both Gavin Williams and Tanner Bibee are now core parts of the big league rotation. Both players went in the top 10 of our 2021 redraft and look like great values, and they also show that the Guardians are able to successfully develop a variety of different pitcher profiles. Second-rounder Doug Nikhazy gives the team a third big leaguer, and there are others in this class that should join the group in the near future, like fourth-rounder Ryan Webb and 10th-rounder Franco Aleman. 

Reds

The Reds are clearly one of the winners from this 2021 draft. The only question is how high do they stack up? First-rounder Matt McLain is one of the few top 20 picks that check out in hindsight, and no player has amassed more bWAR in this class than second-rounder Andrew Abbott. At the same time, both players could have some volatility with their future projections. McLain was a far cry from his 2023 self in 2025, while Abbott has outperformed his peripherals in three consecutive seasons. Regardless of how bullish or bearish you might be on both players moving forward, this is clearly a huge win for the Reds scouting department. The team also has big leaguers in 12th-rounder Julian Aguiar and 15th-rounder Blake Dunn.

Mariners

The Mariners count four big leaguers from this 2021 draft class, and both Edwin Arroyo (Reds) and Michael Morales could add to that in the future. The big wins here for Seattle are pitchers, as both Bryan Woo and Bryce Miller land inside the top 15 picks on our redraft. Woo has a strong case as the best arm from this draft class, while first-rounder Harry Ford nearly cracked our 30-pick redraft and still has a path to a productive big league career. 

Braves

Atlanta has acquired two-way draft prospects in great volume in recent years, and Spencer Schwellenbach is the standout from this class. The second-round pick has a solid case as a top 10 overall player from the class in hindsight, and he’s joined by fellow big leaguers Caleb Durbin (14th round), AJ Smith-Shawver (seventh round), Dylan Dodd (third round), Justyn-Henry Malloy (sixth round) and Andrew Hoffman (12th round) among Braves draftees. Durbin finished third in NL Rookie of the Year voting for the Brewers this season, and the continued development of Smith-Shawver will be key for where this class stacks up moving forward.

Honorable Mentions: Brewers, Athletics, Nationals

Losers

Cubs

Every team from the 2021 class has at least one big leaguer, but there are only three clubs with just a single player each: the Phillies, Marlins and Cubs. Of that trio, only Chicago lacks a potential impact player or a player to land in our redraft. First-rounder Jordan Wicks was a fairly chalk selection at No. 21 overall and has pitched in parts of three big league seasons, but he’s largely been unproductive with a 5.21 career ERA across 95 innings. Second-rounder James Triantos is perhaps the last hope for this class and is still a prospect of note in the system and a member of the team’s 40-man roster. 

Angels

The stakes are higher when you’re picking early in the draft, and the Angels are one of the teams from this class with a clear miss inside the top 10. Unlike the Pirates, Royals or Rockies, they don’t have a later hit to make up for it. Ninth-overall pick Sam Bachman is a big leaguer, but he’s a reliever with below-average control and a 4.82 ERA across 37.1 innings. Second-rounder Ky Bush has four major league starts under his belt and 11th-rounder Chase Silseth has pitched in parts of four seasons for the Angels. There’s very little else to speak of here in Los Angeles’ aggressive, college pitching-heavy class. 

Blue Jays

The Blue Jays were another pitching-heavy team in 2021, with eight of their first nine picks going to arms. The team went with Gunnar Hoglund in the first round at 19th overall, and he is a big leaguer—though not a productive one—as a member of the Athletics. Their second big leaguer from the class is 13th-rounder Matt Svanson, who was a savvy signing and pitched 39 games in relief but is a member of the Cardinals after going to St. Louis as part of the Paul DeJong trade. So far, the Blue Jays have gotten very little from this draft class, though third-rounder Ricky Tiedemann is a wild card who could change that later in 2026 after being sidelined since July 2024 with injuries.

Giants

The Giants have three big leaguers from this class, but of that trio, one didn’t sign and later was drafted by another organization (15th-rounder Brooks Baldwin), a second has been a modest starter/reliever for two seasons (12th-rounder Landen Roupp) and the third has been downright bad in 40.1 major league innings (third-rounder Mason Black). Both first-rounder Will Bednar and second-rounder Matt Mikulski look like misses at this stage, and there’s little else of note from this group. Like the Angels and Blue Jays, this Giants class was extremely pitcher-heavy. 

Mets

The 2021 class for the Mets was something of a disaster shortly after the draft, as the team notably failed to sign Kumar Rocker because of disagreements over medicals and also lost plenty of pool money that could have been used on other players. Rocker is one of five big leaguers from this Mets class but all are fringe types, including Dom Hamel (third round), Christian Scott (fifth round), Carson Seymour (sixth round) and Mike Vasil (eighth round). For a team that doesn’t often pick at the top of the draft, this class is even more notable for its lack of an impactful return.